Senior Congress leader from Andhra Pradesh, G Venkataswamy, who created a flutter by demanding Congress President Sonia Gandhi's resignation as party president, on Wednesday said he is ready to withdraw all his comments.
Take the case of Sudarshan Reddy, irrigation minister in the Andhra Pradesh government. He hails from the Bodan constituency in Nizamabad district and was supposed to return to his home constituency on Saturday. However, he advised against it due to the protests outside his house.
Cine actress and Telangana Rashtra Samithi MP M Vijaya Shanthi on Thursday joined Congress at a time when the possibility of TRS merging with Congress seemed to have hit a roadblock.
The new chief minister, if from the Congress, will have little or no time for political administration, to ensure that he does not lose the voter's goodwill even before the Lok Sabha polls. He can count only on one thing. That the BJP may not want to upset him too early lest an early failure should become an added problem for the party in all the polls to follow, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Rebel Congress leader and former Lok Sabha member from Kadapa YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Tuesday declared that the Andhra Pradesh government's days were numbered. Jagan's 48-hour hunger strike in Vijaywada for the calamity-stricken has received support from over a lakh people and 20 Congress legislators. He told his supporters that they should be ready for a longer battle to ensure justice to the farmers, weavers and other weaker sections of the state.
With its age-old fascination for education, southern states have done better than the North. Start-ups, IT hubs, and industry majors setting up shop have changed the face of the South. Nearly 79% of global offices set up by international conglomerates in India are in the South. Almost 46% of tech unicorns are from the South. The GDP per person in the South is 4.2 times higher than the North. None of these indicators can be ignored by any central government, whatever the political compulsions, notes Ramesh Menon.
The Election Commission will announce the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls on Saturday.
Sharmila said it was her father's dream to see Rahul Gandhi as prime minister and she would be happy to contribute to it.
The Congress is trying to devise a political strategy to capitalise on the ongoing agitation in Andhra Pradesh, for a separate Telengana state, and defuse the pressure on the state government regarding the issue.Congress president Sonia Gandhi reportedly spoke to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the revival of the Committee on Telengana, which was constituted during the United Progressive Alliance's first term but was subsequently abandoned.
Fighting the Congress in the family pocket-borough of Kadapa in prestigious by-elections, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday ruled out going back to the party, saying he cannot "throw his core values" for the sake of "power and position".
Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president D Srinivas has welcomed Praja Rajyam chief K Chiranjeevi's assurance on extending his party's support to the Congress government in the state if the situation demanded.
The by-election was necessitated following the resignation of Pocharam in March this year. He had quit his assembly membership as well as the Telugu Desam Party on the statehood issue and joined the TRS.
The political buzz in Delhi Corridors of power is not good for the Congress, especially when the President of India elections are near.
Singh targeted the Congress using a 'snakes and ladders' analogy, saying the party will fall to zero from 99 after being bitten by a snake -- referring to the grand old party winning 99 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
The fledgling Praja Rajyam Party headed by actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi on Friday accused the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh of resorting to "dirty tricks" and tapping the telephones of some its top leaders.
The Congress is trying to persuade former Andhra Pradesh governor N D Tiwari to take voluntary retirement from politics in the wake of his involvement in an alleged sex scandal.
Dealing a severe blow to the main opposition Congress in Andhra Pradesh ahead of elections, senior party leader and former home minister M V Mysoora Reddy on Wednesday joined the Telugu Desam Party.
Sources said the minister of state for power has resigned from the Union council of ministers to contest the elections. Ramesh is currently a member of the Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh
Two Congress members of Legislative Assembly -- Konda Surekha and Kunja Sathyavathi on Tuesday submitted their resignations from the Andhra Pradesh Assembly demanding creation of Telangana state.
As the son of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YSR Reddy, Jaganmohan Reddy enjoyed tremendous clout in the state and a good amount of respect in New Delhi. But only nine months after his father's sudden demise, young MP from Kadapa is fast becoming a man with no friends.
The BJP senior leadership believes the YSRCP is a more reliable potential ally post-2024 Lok Sabha election than the TDP.
Elections will be held on June 10 to fill 57 Rajya Sabha seats from 15 states falling vacant due to the retirement of members on different dates between June and August, the Election Commission said on Thursday.
Stepping up its attack on actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi, the ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh today said the Praja Rajyam president is asking for a chance for his party out of lust for power.
Besides the Union Cabinet, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are giving final touches to major changes in the All India Congress Committee and Andhra Pradesh Congress unit. There is also the likelyhood of shuffling of state governors.
'He keeps reminding me he is senior. There is no debate in this. I have never shown any disrespect to you since you are a senior,' the PM said.
The humiliation for the Telugu Desam Party was such that it could cross the double digit in only five urban local bodies while other opposition parties Bharatiya Janata Party and Jana Sena Partymade little gains.
There is a proposal from the BJP camp that they would resort to a proportion-based increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats for individual states, based on what they now have. On the face of it, this sounds like a fine argument that those demanding a 'freeze' now cannot oppose without reasons and justification, avers N Sathiya Moorthy.
Ahead of the crucial Congress Working Committee meeting likely to be held in New Delhi on July 28regarding the Telangana issue, MLAs from the Seema-Andhra region have stepped up pressure not to bifurcate the state.
'We don't have to go abroad for anything.' 'Anyone who thinks we have a lot to learn from the US needs to have his head examined.' 'We are in a new era.'
The government on Wednesday hoped that four political parties in Andhra Pradesh -- Congress, Telugu Desam Party, MIM and YSR Congress -- will take a call on Telangana issue by end of December, enabling it to convene an all-party meeting.
The four main parties in Andhra Pradesh; Congress, Telugu Desam Party, Telangana Rashtra Samithi and the Bharatiya Janata Party all say they support a separate state of Telangana, but there have been no concrete steps in that direction. A Ganesh Nadar reports.
"What is the hurry," Modi said, while referring to Gandhi's hand gestures when he came across to PM's chair.
New Andha Pradesh Congress Committee president and state's transport minister Botsa Satyanarayana, whose appointment has created a stir in the party, has said that there was nothing wrong if Andhra Pradesh was divided into two to fulfil the demand of Telangana people for statehood.
Apart from Kerala, in no state did the Grand Old Party scored in double digits.
The arrest of YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy has sent shockwaves through the Congress, with most senior leaders dubbing it as a suicidal move, and which has the potential of finishing off the party in Andhra Pradesh.
The Congress party in Andhra Pradesh seems all set to unleash two aces to counter actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi's juggernaut.
'Each state is unique, but when it comes to finance, the fundamentals cannot be different.'
Three bills were introduced in Lok Sabha on Tuesday amid uproar with members from Left parties trooping into the Well to protest against rising prices of onion while other members raised the Telangana issue.
Days after he resigned as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Kiran Kumar Reddy is all set to announce the formation of his new party at a press conference in Hyderabad on Thursday at 4 pm.
The Congress has almost decided to accept the demand for a separate state of Telangana but is still to work out the nitty-gritty of Andhra Pradesh's bifurcation.
